A Time to Fall in Love
by Twinkling Blue Eyes
Summary: They were all there for the accident, yet Hermione and Ginny are on their own....where are Harry and Ron? And how are Hermione and Ginny going to survive in a time other than their own?
1. Who Everyone Wants to Be

**A/N: Ok, this is my first fic, so bear with me. It is going to be a time-travel fic (over-used story I know, but this is my take on it). I think it will be refreshingly different from other time-travel fics seeing as I have really put thought into each of the characters and given them a depth one rarely finds in fanfics. I really hope you enjoy it! Read and Review!**

Chapter 1: **Who Everyone Wants to Be**

The marauders were living the golden years of their social life at Hogwarts. No one could doubt that they were the most popular boys in school, not to mention they were brilliant and excelled in all their classes. All the boys wanted to be their friends, and all the girls wanted their affections. The marauders took all this in stride. Not that they ever lost their cool exterior. They made a point to keep from everyone what went on in their minds. The marauders had many secrets, none of which they were too keen to share with the rest of Hogwarts. The other, lesser students regarded them as idols, and could only try to dream up what was constantly going through the minds of the fascinating four. They all walked confidently about the school, some would say as if they owned it. They might as well have, because they had so much blackmail on their teachers that they could get them to do whatever popped into the boys' heads, all save McGonagall. And of course the entire student populace feared and admired them to the point that they would obey their every command, with the exception of any Slytherins, who all had a singular disgust for the foursome. Yes, those boys had all that anyone could ask for out of a social life.

James Potter was the unspoken leader of their little group. He of all the marauders was quite possibly the most self-absorbed of the marauders. He had deep, hazel eyes whose color changed so often that if you asked several girls what color they were, they would argue about it for hours but agree on one thing: how absolutely entrancing they were, even when he wore glasses. He had hair black as pitch that was constantly messy in the back, although he didn't really help matters as he ruffled it at every opportunity. His he had a pleasant mouth; it could be used for a charming smile that could melt any female's heart or a roguish grin given as a hint of a plan for a new prank. He was 6'3" with a muscular build, the result of five years of hard-core quidditch. While the ties between all the marauders were unbreakable, the bond between James and Sirius Black was that of true best friends.

Sirius Black was easily the most sought-after male in Hogwarts. With coal black hair that was just the right length so that it fell elegantly into his captivating gray eyes, he could win a girl's fancy just by looking at her and win her heart by smiling. For his smile was one that could only be described by the greatest poet. My humble self could not do it justice. When he smiled at you it was like winning a game of quidditch, tasting chocolate for the first time, getting an Outstanding on your transfiguration O.W.L. and being tickled with a soft goose feather all at once. There wasn't a girl at Hogwarts that did not dream of Sirius Black smiling that amazing smile at her. Of course, there were many on the receiving end of that famous smile, as Sirius seemed determined to date all the loveliest ladies in Hogwarts (save for the Slytherin ones, of course, whose beauty diminished the wider their smirks grew, in his opinion, anyway). No female had ever rejected any offer from him. Indeed, Sirius Black was never in want of anything.

By far the most studious of the group, was Remus Lupin. He had a kind face, with a gentleman-like countenance about him. While he was not the sort of boy you see girls drooling over, he had a soft smile and a sweetness to him that made him very difficult to dislike. He had eyes as gray as a wolf's fur, that could penetrate the coldest stare and see the true feelings behind it. He had shaggy sandy-blonde hair and a light sprinkling of adorable freckles, a sign that he was unable to tan nicely as Sirius or James. He had a tall, thin frame, but when he needed to be he was surprisingly strong. No one but the marauders knew where his strange strength came from, for he was not a quidditch player nor overly active. And while Remus was neither the debonair James nor the studly Sirius, he did have a fair few female admirers. However, whenever Remus entered a relationship, it was one of deep commitment that lasted longer than two weeks. He valued friendship above all, and would do anything for his best friends.

Lastly, there was Peter Pettigrew. It was a mystery to everyone as to how the short, plump boy with watery eyes ever managed to be accepted by the likes of James, Sirius, and Remus. On the surface he was just a simple boy who did not seem to excel in anything, nor did he seem to have any original thoughts. He had no charm, and was terrible when it came to speaking to pretty girls (something that every other marauder happened to be very good at). He just laughed at James and Sirius' jokes, begged Remus for help in Transfiguration, and was awed by James' astounding quidditch skills. No, Peter did not meet the marauder standards by any means. It was simply fate that they took a liking to his naivety and they allowed him into their circle. Then again, that was Peter on the surface. Beneath it was a boy who wanted fit in, who wanted to be awed by others like the other marauders, and above all just wanted to accepted. For no matter how the other marauders treated him, he still heard what others said about him not fitting the part of a marauder, and he could not help feeling alienated. He had many original thoughts that may have even been found witty, but in his insecurity he never deemed them worthy enough to be expressed in the presence of his idols. So therefore all he spoke of was their praises. Still, that was Peter beneath the surface; the Peter that no one had ever seen or rather, the one no one had bothered to look hard enough for.

Yes, those four boys ruled Hogwarts in their time. They knew every nook and cranny of Hogwarts and could therefore escape from anywhere faster than you could say "Filch." Their love for mischief attributed to their extensive detentions, yet nothing could extinguish their love for what was forbidden.

For the marauders everything always went as planned, people did as they said with no objections and they had everything going the way they wanted it. Until one fateful day….

**A/N: Okay, do y'all like it (yes, I am from the south)? This is really more of a prologue, just to go ahead and let y'all know my view of the marauders. My next chapter will be longer, I promise. **

**I would love some reviews! Constructive criticism is awesome, but please, no flames. I'll welcome any ideas for what you want in the story. I have it kinda planned out, but if I like your ideas, I might use them (and give you credit, of course). **

**Well, I hope you enjoy my fic! **

**Twinkling Blue Eyes**


	2. Where They Went Wrong

**A/N: A little fyi- yeah, I know that HBP has come out and all, but I really want this fic to be about them all going back while they're sixth years. So, I'm going to incorporate some of what we saw in the sixth book, but I'm not going to stay entirely true to cannon (so sue me, this is fanfiction). Anyway, on with the story.**

"Class dismissed," said Professor Slughorn.

A great din rose in the particular dungeon where potions class was held as students put away their books and their chairs scraped on the floor as they pushed them back. Quite a few groans were to be heard coming from the students themselves as they thought about their latest assignment.

"Great, just great. This is all we need. A big important project on top of our current mountain of homework," grumbled Ron Weasley as he, Harry and Hermione exited the dungeon. "Just where are we supposed to find the time to actually brew the potion?"

"I don't think it'll be too bad," said Harry Potter with a knowing smile. "With the Prince here," he indicated his _Advance Potions Making_ textbook, "any potion we make shouldn't take too long. He's made making potions quite easy for me, he has."

"Oh, I don't think so, Harry," interjected Hermione with a cross air. "Professor Slughorn said that this was a group project. That means we all have to be in agreement on what potion we make. I for one don't think we should make any potion out of _Advanced Potion Making_. Professor Slughorn said the more complex the potion, the higher marks we'll receive. So I think we should go above and beyond any potion any of the other students make."

"No, you're just saying that because you don't want the Prince's help!" retorted Ron. "I thought you cared about your grade! If we use the Prince's instructions we're bound to get an Outstanding."

"I think that using the Prince is an easy way out of actually doing any work and I refuse to work on any potion with you two if we're using the Prince's instructions!" Hermione responded quite heatedly.

They continued arguing all the way to lunch. Finally, as they started eating their steak and kidney pie, the boys gave in. The Prince might be able to help then when they brewed the potion, but they needed Hermione to write the written report.

"Excellent!" Hermione beamed at them when they surrendered. "I know just the potion to make: the Reverso potion! It's a very complicated potion that's supposed to reverses the effects of any other potion…"

And so Hermione continued to prattle on about the potion as Harry and Ron prepared themselves for hours of hard work (well, watching Hermione work hard and listen to her lecture them about not working hard). As they reached the top of the stairs, Ginny joined them.

"Hey guys," said Ginny.

"Hey Ginny," said the other three, Hermione brightly, the other two still sounding glum.

"Why the long faces, boys?" Ginny asked Harry and Ron.

Before they could speak for themselves, Hermione spoke up.

"They're just miffed because Slughorn assigned us a group project and I won't let them use the Prince's help," she said.

"Well, normally I would be all for using a shortcut, but I don't think it's wise to use the Prince's help either, so I'm with Hermione on this one," said Ginny with a disapproving glance at the Prince's book that was being carried by Harry.

Harry and Ron both chose to not bother arguing with either girl because there really was no point. So instead they each heaped another helping of steak and kidney pie onto their plates and began to scarf it down.

"Now," began Hermione once again, "We need to decide where we're going to make the potion."

"In the dungeon where everyone else is making their potion," said Ron, still rather sulky. Then added sarcastically, "Or did Miss-I-Hang-On-My-Teacher's-Every-Word not catch that Slughorn told the students about the vacant dungeon that has enough room for everyone to set up their caldrons?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Of course I heard him, Ronald. But of course _we're_ not going to make our potion there where everyone could see what we're doing. I don't want anyone trying to top us. So instead, we need somewhere else. I was thinking maybe the same toilet where we made the polyjuice potion?"

"No!" said Harry vehemently. "I will not step foot in that bathroom ever again unless there is a dire emergency. And no, Hermione, a good grade on a potions project does not count as a dire emergency," he added, seeing that Hermione had been about to protest.

"Fine," said Hermione, knowing she couldn't convince him, "If you're so set on refusing my idea, then do you have any brilliant suggestions for us?"

"We do it in the same ruddy dungeon as everyone else and we don't care whether anyone else tries to top our potion," said Ron before Harry could respond, thoroughly annoyed by how long they had been discussing a homework assignment.

Once again, before Harry could say anything, Ginny interjected. "What about the third floor corridor on the right side?" she suggested.

"Wait, wasn't that the forbidden corridor our first year that was where Dumbledore kept the sorcerer's stone?" asked Ron.

"Yeah," replied Ginny, "but they removed Fluffy and the devil's snare and all the other stuff protecting the stone. Now it's just a normal corridor, but it was never put back in use. Filch never bothered to keep it clean, so it's all dusty and no one goes around there."

The group considered it for a moment, and then Hermione said, "I don't see why not. I'll write up a list of ingredients for you boys to get and we'll meet on the third floor by the statue of Luis the Lucky. I've got to go to the library." And before the boys could protest to being given the job of getting the ingredients (which, considering the difficulty of the potion, were not going to be easy to find) without their agreement, Hermione got up and left the hall on her way to her precious library.

"Sometimes I wonder why we ever befriended that one," muttered Ron moodily.

"Because you wouldn't have passed your O.W.L.S. without her," replied Ginny sensibly, "much less ever been able to get past the devil's snare your first year, or figure out that a basilisk was petrifying the students, or found all the spells that Harry needed to get through the third task, or-"

"Okay, okay, we get your point," said Ron quickly, cutting Ginny off from what would have been an exceedingly long list. She was right: Hermione had done an awful lot for Harry and Ron, and they both knew it.

With that thought in their minds, Harry and Ron said goodbye to Ginny and headed back up to the common room to study (their first week and teachers were already piling them with homework) during their free period.

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"Alright then. Let's begin, shall we?"

It was three days later, and the trio was in one of the classrooms of the very deserted corridor about to begin brewing the potion. Harry and Ron had spent the last three days going everywhere from the kitchen for a sprig of parsley, to the forest for a bowtruckle finger (Ron lost more than a little blood on that venture) collecting ingredients for the ridiculously long (in their opinion) list Hermione had given them. Needless to say, all the work they had had to do up to this point did not improve their moods. Both were as cross as ever about doing the project Hermione's way.

Ginny, not having much else to do anyway, decided to come along, partly to enjoy watching the friends antagonize each other, and partly to intervene just in case they got too upset. They were, after all, concocting a delicate potion and fighting around a simmering cauldron is always dangerous.

Hermione, quite the opposite of the boys, was thoroughly enjoying herself. There was nothing quite like brewing a potion that would top everyone else's, or doing anything that would top everyone else (in her opinion anyway). Hermione was very competitive. In this case, however, it might have been wiser of her to be sensitive to her friend's feelings on the matter.

And so they began the potion. They had all their ingredients, their fire was the right temperature, and all their utensils were washed and ready to be used. Everything should have gone perfectly. Except that it didn't. Things rarely go perfectly, especially when dealing with conflicting personalities and feelings.

The finger can't really be pointed at any one person, because everyone contributed to the potion's demise. You might say that it started with Hermione being far too bossy as she told the boys which way to dice the flobberworm and how exactly to stir the potion. However, their reactions to her bossiness were far more severe than they usually were. Ginny didn't help much either by galling Ron even more.

"No Ron! Don't put that in the cauldron!" screeched Hermione. "You call that powdered? It's full of clumps! It'll ruin the potion! Honestly, can't you do anything right?"

Hermione was quite annoyed with both Harry and Ron at this point. They seemed to be ignoring her explicit instructions on purpose. Up until this point, she'd been able to fix them, but if Ron had dumped in what he called "powdered" augurey claw (which he hadn't thoroughly mashed to the point of being powdered), the potion would have been ruined. What she hadn't noticed was that Harry was stirring the potion the wrong way, albeit unintentionally.

"How dare you insult my intelligence!" cried Ron, indignant. "Just because I'm not an over-achiever like you doesn't mean I'm stupid!"

"That may be true, Ron," commented Ginny from the side, "but you're still stupid."

Now Ron was just plain livid, and it showed as the crimson that had already reached his ears spread to his face. Ginny suddenly realized what a big mistake she had made.

"Fine!" Ron yelled. "Call me whatever you want, but what are you gonna do when I dump this _powdered_ claw into the potion! Huh?"

He threateningly held the contents of the mortar nearer the cauldron to emphasize his threat.

"No!" cried Hermione.

Ginny quickly ran over to the cauldron to try to placate her brother as she stood by Hermione on the opposite side of the cauldron from Ron.

"Come on, Ron, ease up. You know I was just kidding!" she said with an uneasy laugh.

"Oh yeah?" said Ron roughly. "Well I'm not laughing!"

"Ron, come on, mate, it was just a joke," said Harry, finally speaking up and trying to calm his friend.

"I don't think Hermione was kidding, was she? She never does when we're dealing with her homework," replied Ron angrily, even more defensive now that he felt like all his friends were against him.

"You know what? I think I will dump this stuff!" he said defiantly, and before Harry could even reach out to stop (because he was standing right next to him), Ron threw it in the potion (the 'powder' and the bowl).

The girls didn't even had time to scream before the cauldron exploded and everything went black…

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Hermione woke up, every inch of her aching and feeling like she had just stepped out of the spinning teacups, but the first thought in her mind as she regained consciousness was _I am going to kill Ronald with my bare hands!_

She began to sit up, fully intent on giving Ron a remonstrance worse than any he had ever received from Mrs. Weasley, when she realized something: Ginny was lying next to her, but there was no debris from an exploded cauldron, and _no sign of Harry or Ron._

**A/N: Alrighty guys! I finally posted chapter two! And yes, I am going to be posting more regularly now. Never fear. I hope the story isn't soundy too unoriginal so far (I know a lot of the future plot isn't gonna be anything you've ever read before!). So review and let me know! Gracias!**

**I'll try to post the next chapter within the week. Muchas smoochas!**

**Twinkling Blue Eyes**


	3. Now What?

**A/N: Okay, guys, sorry that it took a little longer than expected to get this up. It really was only a week, but still. This chapter isn't all that great, but it's necessary for the story. I have to get all this stuff out of the way before I can get to the juicy stuff! So, I hope you like it ok!**

**Oh, and to all you who reviewed: Thank you so much! I've been replying to everyone who gives me a signed review, but I can't to those who don't sign them. If you don't want to sign them, put your email address so that I can respond to your review anyway. I really appreciate y'all's reviews, keep 'em coming!**

**On with the story!**

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Hermione jumped up quickly and scanned the whole room worriedly. It was in vain, however, because Harry, Ron, and the cauldron were a long way away. Hermione fought the urge to panic, and despite her alarm, she couldn't help noticing a few things about the room. When they first began their potion it was dusty, with the windows boarded up, and old, unused desks strewn everywhere. Now, however, as she looked around she realized that sunlight was streaming in through open windows, there was not a speck of dust anywhere, and all the desks were arranged in neat rows. To top it all, the sunlight that was coming in wasn't the reddish hue of the afternoon sun, but the bright, blinding light of the morning sunlight. This was odd indeed.

Suddenly she realized Ginny was stirring and the movement brought Hermione out of her reverie. As Ginny sat up groggily, mumbling something about someone being a baby, she looked around in surprise. She looked at Hermione and said, "What the heck just happened?"

Hermione, however, didn't have an answer. Instead she just shrugged and said, "I have no idea. There's no sign of the potion, and this place is cleaner than when we blacked out." She couldn't bring herself to mention the fact that the boys were seemingly gone, without a trace.

Ginny, very panicked, however, could. "Where are the boys?" she demanded, her voice cracking slightly.

"I don't know, Ginny," said Hermione, equally worried about her friends but trying to stay calm. "I don't understand any of it. We need to go to Dumbledore; he's probably the only one who can figure this out. Or maybe Slughorn, he might know what could have gone wrong with the potion."

"I say we go to Dumbledore," said Ginny quickly and headed to the door.

The girls began heading in the direction of the headmaster's office, both trying to figure out what had happened, but neither having the slightest idea of what it could be. Everything was just so bizarre.

They reached the stone gargoyle, but neither knew the password. They stood there dumbly for a moment, looked at each other, and right as they were about to speak, a voice interrupted them.

"Well, it seems awfully early for anyone to be in trouble. You can't have even finished your breakfast yet, not to mention, the term doesn't begin for another three days."

The girls spun around to find Albus Dumbledore behind them, smiling happily, but looking slightly surprised. There was something strange about him though. It almost looked as if he were… _younger_. He didn't seem to have quite so many wrinkles and his hair was a much darker silver, rather than the almost white silver he normally had.

But dash his appearance, why was he talking nonsense? The term began a week ago! Was Dumbledore finally losing it? No, that would never happen.

"Um, Professor?" said Hermione, looking somewhat befuddled. "We had _lunch_ three hours ago, and we've been in classes for a week, but that's not important right now," she added quickly, wanting to get to the point. "Something's not right, Professor. We were making our potions project and we were all getting upset and we made Ron mad and–"

Before she could finish explaining everything, Dumbledore held up a hand and was looking at her as if she were not quite well. "My dear," he said, "I am afraid you are somewhat mistaken. You see, term has not begun, and even if it had, I do not recall either of you enrolling here at Hogwarts. May I ask how you got in the facilities?" he asked politely.

Now Hermione and Ginny were more confused than ever. The room was different, Dumbledore was different, apparently the time was different…. and then it hit Hermione.

"Professor," she said uncertainly, "as strange as this may sound, could you possibly tell us what the date is?" she asked, dreading his response.

"Oh, well, of course. It's August 30, 1978" he responded, now genuinely surprised by these two strange girls.

Ginny, who hadn't quite considered the possibility of being in the wrong time and thought there was something wrong with the man, said, "Professor, are you sure you're feeling well? You're at least thirty years off, the date is–"

But before she could continue, Hermione cut her off. "Ginny, wait just one moment," she said, then took a deep breath and turned back to the professor. "Professor, this may seem unbelievable –I myself find it difficult to believe– but it would seem that due to a severe potions accident, my friend and I have gone back in time. We go to Hogwarts in the 21st century and-"

"Stop," commanded Dumbledore, no longer looking concerned for the girls, rather looking somewhat suspicious. "If you are indeed from the future, then I would like to know as little as possible about it. However, at this point I have no reason to trust either one of you, if you would be so kind, I would like you to step into my office and explain the situation."

Ginny was completely bewildered. When Hermione mentioned time travel, her mind practically stopped working. It was completely impossible, yet, considering all the strange differences in that room and in Dumbledore, it seems believable.

Dumbledore said the password ("Cauldron Cakes") and led the girls up to his office. When they entered the circular room, Dumbledore went around and sat in his chair behind his desk, and the girls took the two seats opposite it.

"Now then," he began, "perhaps we should start with your names, and take it from there." He smiled encouragingly, for neither of them struck him as anything other than two frightened girls who were lost. However, if what they were saying was true, then he knew he had a big problem on his hands.

"Okay," said Hermione, taking a deep breath and releasing it before saying, "my name is Hermione Granger, and this is my friend Ginny Weasley. We both go to Hogwarts in the year 2003; I'm in my sixth year and Ginny is in her fifth. It was one week into term, and two of my yearmates and I were brewing the Reverso Remedy and Ginny was with us as well. And then Ginny and I both upset one of the boys who was putting in the ingredients, and he got so angry that he pored in an augurey claw that wasn't entirely powdered. Then there was a sort of explosion and everything went black. When we woke up, the room was completely different and there was no sign of an exploded cauldron nor of our two friends," Hermione finished.

"Hm," said Dumbledore, thinking. "I cannot say how the potions blunder could have sent you to the past, to my knowledge, no one has ever managed to go back more than a day. I will study the Reverso Remedy and it's ingredients to see if there is some way to send you forwards in time, but it could take a while. In the mean time, you may stay at Hogwarts. As for your two friends, I cannot say what has happened to them. They may still be in the present –well, your present– or they could have been sent into any time or they may be… Well, yes, it's impossible to say, we can only hope they might turn up."

Both Hermione and Ginny paled at the thought of Harry and Ron stuck in some period of time by themselves. Who knew what kind of trouble they could get themselves into? They weren't much comforted by Dumbledore not finishing the last possibility, but they didn't want to consider what he might have been about to say.

Even aside from their worries about the boys, what about their own problems? They were stuck in the '70s without the slightest idea of how to get back to their time. There was no time to dwell on it, however, as Dumbledore began to ask them more questions.

"Judging by your uniforms, I'm guessing you are Gryffindors, correct?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," they murmured in response.

"Very well, you may remain in that house, but rather than putting you in your separate years, I'm going to put you both in fifth year. Yes, Miss Granger," he said before Hermione could interrupt him, "I am making you repeat one year, but I assure you this is for the best. You both should be together as much as possible so that you don't go telling different people different stories. You must come up with one story of your past, and stick to it. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," they responded, neither sounding too excited.

"Now then," he continued, "you may spend the next three days here at Hogwarts, but I think it would be a good idea if on September first you went to King's Cross Station and rode the Hogwarts express, just so you can go ahead and meet the students of this time. And I shan't be announcing your enrollment to the entire school like I normally would if students transferred from another school, because I don't want to draw attention to either of you. The less noticed you are, the better. Oh yes, and I thought it might be good for you to know who is in Gryffindor in your year. There are only three girls: Katya Rollins, Lily Evans –she's the prefect– and Jen Corley. The boys' names are James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Frank Longbottom."

Dumbledore looked up to see both girls wide-eyed with their mouths slightly open. "Sirius Black? James Potter?" breathed Ginny.

"Do you know them in the future?" said Dumbledore sharply.

They both nodded and Hermione said, "In a manner of speaking, yes." And she tried to hide the sadness she still felt from the loss of Sirius.

"Then you are not, under any circumstances, to tell them anything about their futures. Telling them what is to come could be devastatingly dangerous," he told them warningly.

"Well, I suppose that's all for now. You may both go to the Gryffindor common room and start working on a plausible story to tell the students. The password is 'periwinkle.' Off you go," he dismissed them with an encouraging smile.

"But what about my brother?" Ginny demanded.

"I am sorry, Miss Weasley," he replied sadly, "but right now I am afraid there is nothing we can do for him and your other friend. We can only hope they are safe, wherever or whenever they are."

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"I say we should be from Beaubatons," began Hermione.

They were sitting in the Gryffindor common room discussing their invented past. Both were still out of sorts, still not quite used to the idea of being stuck in the past and trying to not think about Harry and Ron. Also hovering in their minds was the thought that they would be seeing a young Sirius and Remus, not to mention Harry's parents. And of course the traitor, Wormtail. They couldn't help but wonder what all of them would be like. Neither felt like talking, but continued brainstorming only because Dumbledore told them to.

"No," said Ginny, before Hermione could even finish her thought, "we don't speak French, and people might wonder how we learned anything if we didn't speak the language wouldn't they?"

"Excuse me for saying so, Ginny, but you don't know much about foreign schools of magic," said Hermione, slightly on edge. "At Beaubatons, all the classes are taught in English. The students are already taught the language in primary school, so that they know it by the time they begin their secondary education. Muggles sometimes have a similar system, but it's usually only the rich ones that put their children in programs like that. How did you think that all the Beaubatons students knew English when they came to Hogwarts?"

"I had no idea. But why do they bother with it?" queried Ginny.

"Because they realize that English is the most widely spoken language in the world, I suppose," responded Hermione. "So that settles it. We went to Beaubatons for the first four years of our education because our parents thought it would be a good experience for us to study abroad, but now we're finishing our studies in England because we're going to work here after we finish school."

"It doesn't seem altogether likely, but I doubt many people will care very much, they usually don't," said Ginny, "But what are we going to do about our names? Do we have to change them?"

"You'll need to change your surname because people here might know your mum and dad," answered Hermione. "I can keep mine because I'm muggle-born anyway."

"I suppose I can be 'Ginny Bennett.' I never did much like 'Weasley' anyway, it sounds a bit too much like 'weasel,'" said Ginny.

"Well, I don't think there's really anything else to discuss," said Hermione, "We still have two more days before term begins anyway."

At that moment a house elf appeared right next to Hermione's chair to inform the girls that Dumbledore wished to seem them in his office once more.

So, without much enthusiasm, the girls returned to Dumbledore's office. He wanted them to tell him what their contrived past was, and then, once he was satisfied with it, he told them one more thing they would have to do. Since Dumbledore wanted it to be as convincing as possible that the girls were new, he was going temporarily remove their knowledge of direction in Hogwarts. Everyone who came to Hogwarts got lost at least twenty times in their first three weeks, so it really wouldn't do for two new girls to arrive to all their classes on time during their first week. The spell was a simple one, much like the way of putting a memory into a pensive, and they would regain all knowledge of directions in Hogwarts after three weeks. Both girls protested a great deal to this, but nothing they said could dissuade the headmaster. He also gave them an allowance of money to get their supplies for school and to use during the year.

And so, over the next three days, the girls got their supplies from Hogsmead, until September first when they went to King's Cross Station so ride the Hogwarts Express with compartments full of students they didn't know, and a few whom they did.

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**A/N: I know, you have to read about all that stuff in the other time travel fics, but it's necessary to the story. Okay, now that that's out of the way, we'll move onto better and more interesting things. The next chapter will see the marauders (and what fun it will be!) and I'm pretty sure you're gonna enjoy it! **

**By the way, were y'all (yes, I'm from the south, I just can't help it) surprised by the missing Harry and Ron? **

**Let me know how y'all think it's shaping up! If I missed something in this chapter, let me know and I'll do a quick edit. I love any form of review (except flames, _please_ no flames), even if it's just a simple 'update soon.' It's nice to know the hours of typing are appreciated! **

**Muchas smoochas, **

**Twinkling Blue Eyes **


	4. First Test

**A/N: Hey guys! Okay, this chapter took me a while to write. Well, actually, it took me a while to make myself sit down and write it. I don't know, I guess I was just a little apprehensive about my first chapter containing dialogue with characters from the past. I'm not entirely sure I like this chapter or not, I may edit it later, but I just wanted to post since it's been so long. It really shouldn't take too long for me to write chapter five because I already have planned what's gonna happen…and it's gonna be good! I'm really excited that the story is starting to get to the juicy stuff! Anyway, I have more to say at the end of the chapter, but for now, on with the story! **

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Hermione and Ginny spent the morning of September first wandering around London. The girls had flooed from McGonagall's office to the Leaky Cauldron, and had wandered around London until ten-thirty when they began heading to King's Cross station.

Neither girl spoke very much. Both were engrossed in their thoughts. Hermione knew more about the people in this time than Ginny did, but she was still racking her brains for all the information she had ever heard about Harry's parents and their friends. She knew that Lilly was smart and a prefect and that she was in Gryffindor, but that was all. She knew (and could guess) a lot more about Harry's dad just from what she had heard from Sirius. She also recalled the time during their third year in the Three Broomsticks when she, Harry, and Ron eavesdropped on the conversation of the minister of magic and several of their professors. McGonagall had called James and Sirius the forerunners of the Weasely twins, so she assumed it would be just like being around Fred and George again, which couldn't be too bad.

Ginny knew far less. She had been friends with Harry for the last several years, but she was never a close friend to him like Ron and Hermione, so she was never around when Harry talked about his parents. Last summer, when her family stayed at Grimauld Place, Ginny had heard Sirius occasionally make comments about Harry being just like his father, but she had heard little else.

Their first test, however, was to befriend their new roommates and convince them that their story was true. Girls catch details much more easily than boys, and Hermione and Ginny knew that if anyone saw a defect in their fabricated past, it would be a girl.

* * *

Hermione and Ginny wound their way through the crowd of students on Platform 9 and ¾ as everyone greeted their friends who they had not seen over the summer. The girls finally made it onto the scarlet Hogwarts Express and began looking for an empty compartment. As they were nearing the end of the train, they looked into a compartment and saw something familiar: Harry's vivid green eyes. Only they weren't looking out of Harry's face. Rather, they were set like two shining emeralds in the face of a beautiful redheaded girl who was unmistakably Harry's mother. 

She looked surprised upon seeing them, but brightened quickly and said, "Hello, I'm Lilly Evans. Are you new? I don't think I've ever seen you before?"

Delighted that they had found someone they knew (well, sort of), the girls introduced themselves.

"Yes, we've both just transferred here from Beauxbatons and we're in our fifth year," said Hermione. "My name is Hermione Granger, and this is my friend Ginny We..Bennett." She added, stumbling slightly to remember Ginny's counterfeit surname.

"It's very nice to meet you both then," replied Lilly genially. "Won't you join us in our compartment?"

Hermione and Ginny gratefully accepted the invitation and entered their compartment. They lifted their trunks onto the luggage rack with some difficulty. Harry and Ron had always helped Hermione lift her trunk, so she wasn't used to putting it up there on her own. She managed with some help from Lilly and once she and Ginny had both finished and sat down, they noticed that there were two other girls sitting in the compartment as well. They sat down and Lilly began the introductions.

"Hermione, Ginny, I'd like you both to meet my two best friends and roommates: Jen Corley and Katya Rollins," said Lilly, indicating the two girls sitting across from Hermione and Ginny.

The two girls smiled and greeted Hermione and Ginny warmly. Jen had dark, shoulder-length hair that framed her heart-shaped face. She had brown eyes splashed with gold and green and a slightly mischievous grin. Her build was athletic and she was tan from what Ginny expected to be hours of playing quidditch during the summer.

Katya had curly, golden hair and eyes the color of forget-me-nots. She had a kind, sweet face with freckles sprinkled all over her fair skin. Although she was sitting, Ginny guessed that she would be rather tall when she stood up.

"So, do you girls know what house you're in?" asked Jen.

"Yeah, we got sorted a few days ago. We're both in Gryffindor," Ginny replied.

"Excellent!" said Katya, "We're in Gryffindor too, so we'll be roommates."

"So tell us, why are you transferring to Hogwarts?" asked Lilly.

Hermione then told her new friends the story that she and Ginny had come up with, praying that the girls wouldn't ask any questions she and Ginny wouldn't know how to answer.

"But," said Lilly once Hermione had finished, "why are you transferring now? I mean, fifth year is a crucial period in your education, what with O.W.L.s and all. It's not exactly the best time to make such a major transition, is it?"

Hermione glanced at Ginny quickly, unsure about how to answer that question, but to her surprise Ginny showed no signs of discomfort and instead lied easily, "That's another reason why we transferred. See, at Beauxbatons, they have their examinations after six years of study, rather than five, but then they have less time to study on a N.E.W.T. level. We weren't sure how exactly their examinations equate with the English ones, so since we're both planning on working in England in the future, we decided that it would be best to go ahead and make the transition."

The three other girls in the compartment all nodded, Ginny's explanation making perfect sense. Hermione realized that Ginny was right, but at first was surprised that Ginny even knew that about Beauxbatons, until she remembered that poor Ginny had endured a summer with Fleur.

As the Hogwarts Express streamed through the countryside, Hermione and Ginny asked the other girls questions about Hogwarts, some of which they already knew the answers to and others that they genuinely wanted to know about. Lilly, Jen, and Katya told them about life at Hogwarts, what the professors and classes were like, and, in Jen's case, all about quidditch. She was the keeper on the Gryffindor team. Hermione, noticing that Ginny was about to start bombarding Jen with questions about the team and not really wanting to hear about quidditch anyway, asked, "Hang on, you girls haven't told us anything about the boys at this school. Are there any good ones in our year?" She was dying to hear all about Harry's parents' romance in school so she could tell him all about it when she got back to the future.

The other three girls traded looks and Lilly said, "I hate to disappoint you, but the boys in our year are all a bunch of prats. The ones in Gryffindor are anyway." She said this with a look of disgust on her face.

Ginny and Hermione exchanged surprised glances at this. They had been expecting Lilly to get a love-struck expression on her face and start telling them about James Potter, but instead it seemed like the thought of him, and Sirius and Remus for that matter, made her sick.

"Oh, come on, Frank's not that bad," said Katya fairly.

"Yeah, but he and Alice kind of have a thing going on, so he doesn't count," replied Lilly sourly.

"Allow me to explain Lilly's severe distaste for the boys in our year. Well, the Gryffindor boys in our year, I should say," began Jen. "You see, the four boys, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, are known throughout the school as "The Marauders." I don't know where they came up with that stupid name, but they think it's brilliant. Everyone in school–"

"–thinks their gods or something," interrupted Lilly, looking quite moody about the whole subject, "honestly, everyone _worships_ them and the boys revel in it. Ugh, it makes me sick. They're arrogant, annoying, they follow no rules, they–"

"You really shouldn't let her get started, or she'll never stop," said Katya, now interrupting Lilly's tirade. "She's always hated them. Potter especially. He never stops asking her out," she added with a slight smirk.

"Yeah, Potter's always had a thing for Lilly, but I can't speak against him too much. He is my captain, and I must respect him," said Jen.

"Please! I really don't see how you can stand playing quidditch with that insufferable boy," fumed Lilly. "And it's impossible to respect him, he is a complete prat with no redeeming qualities."

"Now, I completely agree that he is a prat in every sense of the word. However, I'm very sorry, Lilly, but I have to say he is a beyond brilliant quidditch player who has never let Gryffindor lose a match. That definitely counts as a redeeming quality," responded Jen.

Lilly didn't respond to Jen's comment, but instead said to Hermione and Ginny, "The point is: the Marauders are nothing but four obnoxious boys who do nothing but bully other students and who care about no one but themselves. They are not worth your time or consideration, so take my advice and stay as far away from them as possible."

"You'll find that somewhat difficult seeing as you're going to have all your classes with them," said Katya, "but I wouldn't worry because they probably won't even notice you. They don't really give much thought to anyone but themselves."

Hermione figured they would hear more about the Marauders soon enough, so she decided to steer the conversation away from thoseparticular boys.

"Well, those are the Gryffindor boys in our year, but what about those in seventh? Or the boys in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff? Surely some of them are worth consideration," she said to the other girls.

"That's the problem, isn't it? All those boys are afraid of the marauders. None of them has enough backbone to stand up to the Marauders, they never go out with girls unless the Marauders are "through" with them," said Jen, disgusted.

In response to Hermione and Ginny's raised eyebrows, Katya explained, "You see, the Marauders, well, mainly Potter and Black, gits that they are, have a sort of competition to see how many girls they can go out with. Mind you, they only bother with pretty girls. And no Slytherins. They hate Slytherins as a rule, but then again, most Gryffindors do." She added as an afterthought.

"And so," said Lilly, finishing up Jen's original point, "no boys will ever ask out any girls that haven't gone out with the Marauders at some point. It's a weird sort of system that all the boys seem to understand. It's like Potter and Black are the "alpha males." By now I'm pretty sure the Marauders have gone out with all the girls in our year and the year below us, so now all the other spineless idiots have a chance."

"Oh, Lilly's just bitter because she had a huge crush on Bertram Aubrey and when Potter found out, he and Black went and used some illegal curse on Aubrey that made the size of his head double," said Jen, smiling apologetically at Lilly, "Aubrey has never come near Lilly since."

"So wait, have none of you _ever_ had a boyfriend before?" asked Ginny.

"Jen and I have," replied Katya, "But then again, Jen went out with Black and I went out with Lupin for a while so we are "available" to other boys, not that there really are any that we like."

"Wait, you willingly went out with them after all that you've just said about them?" asked Hermione.

"Well, we figured we might as well," said Jen. "I mean, for all their horridness, they aren't _that_ bad to look at, and we really didn't go out with them for very long, so it wasn't _too_ bad. And Sirius Black certainly knows how to…" she said with a dreamy expression, then realizing what she was saying shook the silly look off her face and added quickly, "Not that he isn't still a prat. I honestly can't stand him. He's just… well… you know," she finished lamely.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," said Katya, also with a slightly dreamy look on her face.

"I know what both of you mean, and I don't want to hear about it," declared Lilly, "All the Marauders make me sick!"

Hermione and Ginny, however, weren't entirely sure they knew what the girls meant, they could only guess that the Marauders weren't really as bad as they seemed. They did after all turn out alright in the future. Before they could ask any more questions, the witch with the lunch trolley passed by and all the girls bought some snacks for lunch. Ginny decided that it was best to not continue on the subject of the Marauders, so instead she revisited the topic of quidditch, which she had been dying to hear more about anyway. She hoped to be able to play on the house team, so she wanted to hear about all the details about the team. Jen was thrilled to be back on the subject of her favorite pastime, willingly obliged. Even Lilly and Katya took part in the conversation, because even though they didn't actually play the sport, they enjoyed it as much as any other witch.

Hermione, however, didn't. She would have liked to change the subject again, but the girls were already full into debates on tactics, so she admitted defeat and decided to get a book out of her trunk. She stood on her seat and reached up to look for _Hogwarts, A History_. Unfortunately, although she hadn't realized it, when she had placed her trunk in the luggage rack earlier, she perched it there rather precariously. So as she tilted it slightly towards herself to look inside, her trunk and all its contents fell onto her and knocked her to the floor, whereupon she hit her head soundly and faded from consciousness...

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**A/N: Okay, I don't know if that counts as a cliffy or not. Sorry if it does. I'm also sorry the marauders didn't quite make it into this one like I promised, but it's all about them in the next chapter! He he… **

**To all of you who have asked what my special "spin" on the time-travel genre is, well, it's not really gonna come in for a while. It hasn't been done as far as I know, but I do know that it's gonna be a lot of fun to write! Most of you will like it, but I think some of you (from what you've said in your reviews) are gonna be a little upset with me. **

**To all who reviewed: Thank you! Special thanks to ****I Write Sins Not Tragedies**** and FireChildSlytherin5 for being my most loyal reviewers and reviewing on every chapter! Everyone's reviews have been amazing, they really get me going. I swear I'm inspired to write everytime I read a review! **

**Please let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is always great and really helpful. I want to know what you like and don't like so that I can know how best to please you! **

**Alrighty, thanks for reading! **

**Muchas smoochas, **

**Twinkling Blue Eyes **


	5. Initial Encounter

**A/N: Hey guys! I know, it was another long wait before an update, but you should be excited that I updated at all because I was seriously thinking about just letting this story go. Fortunately for you though, I decided to keep going. I'm pretty sure I like this chapter. Who knows, I might rewrite it later. I think I might have left out a few things. **

**Be excited though because the Marauders are finally here! Well, ok, it's only James and Sirius so far, and not TOO much of them, but they have been introduced and will be in the story here on out. I think they're pretty in character, tell me if you disagree. **

**Well, I suppose there should be less ado and we should just get on with the story!**

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Hermione woke with he head pounding furiously. She quickly realized that she was not lying on the floor in their compartment on the Hogwarts Express, but was instead lying in one of the beds in the hospital wing.

"Good, you're awake," said Ginny, sitting in a chair to the right of Hermione's bed. "You hit your head awfully hard there. You should have told us you needed help." She shook her head at Hermione.

"What happened?" asked Hermione, still a little dazed.

"Well, we were talking about the latest quidditch move, the Parkin's Pincer, that was just invented last season by the Wigtown Wanderers. Can you believe it? Ha! As if! They were making a huge deal about it when in our time _any_ quidditch team knows how to do it! There are several quidditch moves that haven't been invented that I could do and have them named after me! It was so weird not-"

"Ginny!" said Hermione loudly, "I don't want to hear about your quidditch conversation! I'm sorry, but I really _don't_ care about the 'Parker Splinter'-"

"Parkins Pincer," interjected Ginny.

"-I want to know how I got in the hospital wing and where are the other girls!" finished Hermione somewhat heatedly. Her head her very badly and she did not want to listen to quidditch prattle at the moment.

"Fine," said Ginny, sulking slightly. "You were lucky: right as you had your little 'accident'," Hogwarts was coming into view. After you quite literally _crashed_ on the floor of the compartment with all your belonging falling on top of you, we all figured it was probably best if we just quickly got all your stuff put away and then took you to the hospital wing once the train stopped. You know, you're lucky you didn't get a concussion, with all those ridiculously heavy books in your trunk, it probably weighed more than my Auntie Murrell. I still can't believe you spent so much of the money that Dumbledore gave us on _books_."

"Well I daresay my books will prove more useful than your quidditch supplies," retorted Hermione, acidly. "How did you manage to get me off the train with the huge crowd?"

"We waited for it to thin out a bit," responded Ginny. "Lilly was actually pleased with the excuse to stay behind because then Potter wouldn't be able to try and ride in the same as her like he did last year," she added with a smile. "I wonder how Harry's dad is gonna change her mind about her."

"I'm sure he'll think of something," said Hermione. "I suppose after you all brought me here the girls went back to the feast? Why didn't you go?"

"I told Madam Pomfrey that I should be here when you woke since you'd be waking up in an unknown place," said Ginny with a small smirk. "I said I didn't want you to be lonely. She ate it up. I don't really mind missing the feast that much anyway. Everyone would probably stare at us since we're new."

"I suppose we're going to how Harry's always felt," responded Hermione. "Thanks for staying with me."

"No problem," said Ginny. "Dumbledore did tell us to stay together. And let me tell you: I do _not_ like this 'not knowing our way around Hogwarts' thing. As the girls led the way up to the hospital wing, it was so weird recognizing corridors and staircases, but having no idea to where they lead. We're going to get so lost tomorrow when we go to breakfast."

"Well," said Hermione, "at least tomorrow is a Saturday so we'll be able to wander around and try and learn our way around a little bit. I suppose if we stick with Lilly and the other girls then we'll be alright."

"Yeah, I suppose," replied Ginny. "but I still think we're in for a rough year. We don't even know if we're gonna fit in in this decade."

"I'm sure we have nothing to worry about," said Hermione, "just as long as we don't get on anyone's bad side."

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Ginny knew exactly where she was. She was standing in front of the statue of Barnabus the Barmy. Her problem was that she didn't want to be standing in front of the statue of Barnabus the Barmy. She wanted to be in the library. But she didn't have the faintest idea of how to get there. 

Earlier that morning, right after Ginny and Hermione finished eating breakfast in the hospital wing, Lilly, Jen, and Katya had come, know Hermione and Ginny didn't know their way around, to show them where the Gryffindor common room was. Once the girls went to their dormitory and chatted for a bit, Hermione begged the other girls to take them to the library. First day of term and no homework yet she wanted to go to the library. That's Hermione for you, thought Ginny. Ginny wanted to spend as little time in the library as possible, so she decided to take a shower and let the girls go ahead and meet them there later. Stupid idea, really. She was now stuck in some corridor, and after so many trickster staircases that changed difections as soon as she stepped on them, she didn't even know what floor she was on.

Her patience growing thinner by the second, Ginny continued through the corridor past Barnabus's statue. She came to a door she hoped might take her to the main staircase and opened it. Rather than finding a staircase, however, it turned out it was just an old classroom. Before her stood, with their backs to her, two tall boys with their wands out who were standing over another boy who was on the floor and whose wand was lying several feet away from him. The two boys who were standing were laughing at the boy on the floor. Ginny put two and two together and realized that the two boys who were standing must be nothing more than bullies. There was nothing Ginny hated more than bullies. Sure, she enjoyed a good prank, but ridiculing someone and laughing at their helplessness was not something she tolerated.

The boys hadn't heard the door open and were unaware of her presence, so without really thinking she quickly walked around them to stand in front of them, pulling her wand out as she did so.

"Leave him alone," she said forcefully.

Both boys were shocked for a moment and exchanged glances. During the second that they did so, Ginny finally saw their faces and was shocked to see that one of them was Harry. Or wait, no, just a boy that looked nearly exactly like Harry. He could only be one person: James Potter. That meant the other dark-haired boy must be Sirius Black. What have I gotten myself into? She thought.

In the split second that Ginny made her realizations, the boys had already turned back to her, their initial surprise gone.

"Who are you?" asked James with a somewhat puzzled yet accusing glare.

"Ginny Bennett," Ginny replied, finally having gotten used to her new surname and now trying to look calm and confident in the face of two boys who she knew were extremely talented.

"Are you new or something?" asked James.

"Yes," she answered, not offering any further information about herself.

James and Sirius exchanged another glance, only one that was knowing rather than puzzled.

"Well, _Bennett_," said Sirius who was standing directly in front of her, as he began to walk towards her, "since you're new, I suppose it's our job to explain a few things about the way things work around here. First off, we and our two other friends are known as the Marauders. We do what we want, when we want, and no one gets in our way. Or else they pay the consequences. Now my advice to you, Freckles, is to get out of our way and let us finish our business." With each statement he took another step towards her until he was only inches away from her. He was very tall and loomed over her, and while she desperately wanted to take a step back, she knew he was trying to intimidate her, and she couldn't have that.

"Oh, and I suppose your business is terrorizing defenseless people?" she demanded, but without waiting for a response she continued, "Well, sorry as I am, I refuse to follow your silly little rules and just stand by while you bully innocent people!"

Sirius looked taken aback by her answer and opened his mouth to respond, but was distracted by a sudden cry from James.

"Oy!" James yelled and pointed his wand at the third boy in the room.

While everyone else had been talking, the other boy had crept to his wand and was about to hex James and Sirius. However, they were still too quick for him and James easily disarmed him. Sirius quickly pushed Ginny out of the way and sent a body-bind hex at the other boy. Ginny hadn't really looked at the boy when she had come into the room, but now as she turned around she saw that he had lank greasy hair and a very ugly expression on his face. She had a pretty good suspicion she knew who he was, but she didn't really care. She was too mad at James and Sirius.

"Leave him alone!" she shouted at them.

Both boys rolled their eyes and Sirius turned to James and said "Looks like we have another Evans on our hands."

James gave him a look and turned to Ginny once more, "Listen, Bennett, you're starting to get annoying. Just run along and go paint your nails or something."

"Uh!" Ginny said disgustedly, and before either boy had time to react, she quickly sent her famous Bat-bogey hex onto both of them. While they were stuck with bat wings flapping in their faces, she undid their hex on Snape and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him up and out of the room and slamming the door shut behind them.

"Prats," she spat angrily, "Who do they think they are?"

"Get off of me," said Snape irritably pulling his arm out of her grasp and stepping away from her, "I didn't need your help."

"Oh, so I suppose your capable of taking on two talented wizards all by yourself?" she replied back, now getting mad at him as well.

"They aren't talented, I'm much more powerful than they are!" he said forcefully, "I can take care of myself."

"Yes, I could see you were doing a marvelous job at that," Ginny responded sarcastically.

"Stay away from me, Bennett," spat Snape, turning and walking away from her.

"Boys," she muttered, quite annoyed with the lot of them.

It occurred to her that she should probably get away from there seeing as James and Sirius were likely to be getting over her hex soon and very unlikely to be pleased with her. As she speedily headed off towards she didn't know where, her anger began to subside and worry began to take its place. She had just gotten on the wrong side of the two most popular boys in the entire school. Not to mention one of them happened to be the father of her brother's best friend. And the other one...

She had never known how good-looking Sirius had been! In her time he looked so gaunt from his years in Azkaban, but here in this time he was nothing short of a demigod. Ginny had always guessed that he had been better looking when he was younger, but she hadn't expected this. Apart from being intimidated by how much taller and (most likely) more powerful than her he was, she couldn't help feeling a fluttery feeling in her stomach when she looked into his deep, gray eyes. But even as she had this thought, she chided herself for it. Just thinking about the fact that he had been bullying Snape made her blood boil. No, she didn't like Snape. And yes, chances were he deserved what he got, but she couldn't help but side with him considering the fact that it was two against one. It wasn't fair, and that was all there was to it.

"Way to go, Ginny," she said to herself as she walked down the corridor. "You've just made enemies with the two most popular, good-looking boys in the entire school. Quite an accomplishment seeing as you haven't even been at school for twenty-four hours." She sighed deeply. She was beginning to regret ever having let the girls leave the dormitory without her.

* * *

Sirius loved it when September first fell on a Friday. That meant that their first day back at Hogwarts was a Saturday and they could get a head start on any sort of prank planning or teacher terrorizing. It seemed they always had a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher every year, with the occasional change of professor in a few other classes, so learning the ticks of teachers never quite got old. 

And that was exactly what Sirius and James were up to on that fine Saturday morning: scouting out their new DADA teacher. Well, at least, that's what they were on their way to go do, but they ran into Snape on their way to the new professor's office. Well, more like they were watching the map and Snape's dot in an empty classroom caught their eye so they decided to go investigate. He was bound to be up to something. They were right, in a way. They actually never found out what exactly he was doing, however, because as soon as they charged into the room they disarmed him without asking questions.

After two and a half months of not bullying Snape, it felt good to have a go at him again. They went back and forth with their usual insults (Sirius and James naturally having the upper hand), hitting him with a good hex whenever he said something particularly nasty. And just as Sirius and James were having a good laugh at something Sirius had said, that girl burst in and ruined the fun.

And yet, hours later once he had gotten rid of the bat wings and sat thinking, Sirius couldn't help but marvel at her. Naturally, he had never seen her before, seeing as she was new, but he was quite certain he'd never met anyone like her. No one at Hogwarts had the guts to stand up to him and James, other than Evans. But Evans just did that to get attention from James (in Sirius's opinion anyway). True, this girl was new and didn't know how things were done, but all the same, she was willing to stand up for someone as pathetic-looking as Snape against less than favorable odds. Maybe she was just stupid, but Sirius couldn't help but think about the fire that had burned in her eyes as she insulted him and James. How dare she insult him and James! They were by far the best-looking boys to have ever graced the halls of Hogwarts, so…. Sirius really didn't know whether to admire her or hate her for it.

He decided to reserve judgment for later. Oh, yes, judgment would be passed. The Marauders could not let someone just insult and disrespect them like that, no matter how new they were. They had a reputation to keep up. Yes, they would have to find a way to punish, or rather, get back at this Ginny Bennett. The Marauders always got revenge on those who opposed them. Sirius just wasn't sure if in this case he really wanted to.

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**A/N: Well? What did you think? Ok, don't kill me if you didn't like Sirius's thoughts there at the end. I didn't know how to explain everything that was going through his mind without making it really long, but it will make more sense probably in the next chapter. **

**Por favor (please!) tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is great, and I'd love to know what you like and what you would like to be different. Thank you so much to everyone who has been reviewing so far! **

**Muchas smoochas! **

**Twinkling Blue Eyes **


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